Saving Red

by Sonya Sones

Right before winter break, fourteen-year-old Molly Rosenberg reluctantly volunteers to participate in Santa Monica's annual homeless count, just to get her school's community service requirement out of the way. But when she ends up meeting Red, a spirited homeless girl only a few years older than she is, Molly makes it her mission to reunite her with her family in time for Christmas. This turns out to be extremely difficult -- because Red refuses to talk about her past. There are things Molly won't talk about either. Like the awful thing that happened last winter. She may never be ready to talk about that. Not to Red, or to Cristo, the soulful boy she meets while riding the Ferris wheel one afternoon.

• ISBN10: 0062370308
• ISBN13: 9780062370303
• Publish Date: 18 October 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

I love Sones and the stories she tells in verse. This one just took me on a wonderful rollercoaster ride.

•Pro: Molly was so sweet, caring, and wounded. There were so many times during this story that I wanted to hug her.

•Pro: I really liked the way Sones kept the full story about Molly's past and what happened to her family under wraps. My curiosity built until I was almost begging for her to tell me.

•Pro: There are a lot of people in this book carrying around a ton of baggage. I was very pleased with the approach Sones took and how there was a theme of forgiveness in this book.

•Con: I just couldn't deal with Molly's parents. They were the worst! I understand what Sones was trying to do there, but they were so frustrating. I was happy with where they arrived at in the end, but it was a painful journey.

•Pro: Although there are a lot of heavy issues - mental illness, homelessness, drug addiction, there are some lighter parts to balance it out.

•Pro: I was all over that romance. I know it was instalove, but it was so sweet and adorable. Loved it!

•Pro: The pain is so real. Red's pain, Molly's pain, Molly's parents' pain, it was palpable.

•Pro: The ending!!! I am getting chills just thinking about it.



Overall: A heartwarming and emotional journey, where one girl is saved by attempting to save another.

[readingwithwrin]

"Have you ever done something
so stupid, so selfish,
so just plain wrong,
that you wish you could turn back the clock
return to the scene of the crime, and
somehow keep yourself from committing it?"

See reviews first on my blog

Molly is out one night trying to get the last of her community service hours done when she see's a young woman only a few years older than she is. While she did have to leave that woman their that night, she decides to go back and leave things for her, and that is where the whole story really starts. From then on Molly tries to help Red, and Red takes Molly on a journey of her own. This whole experience for Molly is one that she will never forget for multiple reasons.
Along with this we also have Molly's parents, one is a workaholic and one has become a pot head. (not my words Molly's.) Because of this Molly is able to be absent almost all of the time while she is trying to help Red out with very little actual happy times with her parents.

Overall I thought this story was really sweet. Molly just wants to try and right the wrong she did to someone else she cared about in her life. Someone that she feels responsible for, and blames herself everyday. So with Red she feels like she can not only help her, but make someone else's family happy and together again. At times I found Molly at times a little bit annoying, but I think that has to do a little bit with her age and the fact that she is constantly blaming herself for something that she shouldn't have been responsible for in the first place. Molly also of course meets a guy and they fall hard for each other, but this is never the main focus of the story.
As for the writing I found it really easy to read and the characters really worked well together.

"Maybe I can't glue my messed-up family
back together again.
But if it's the last thing I do,
I'll figure out a way
to reunite Red
with hers."